Pamoya

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - December 2008
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A monthly electronic newsletter from Women of Uganda Network
(WOUGNET) - http://www.wougnet.org

For comments or queries, contact info [at] wougnet [dot] org

To subscribe/unsubscribe to the WOUGNET Update Newsletter, send a
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This issue's contents:
1. News and Events
2. Tech Support
3. Citizen Journalism
4. WOUGNET News

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We take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday season, a
merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2009. Kindly note that the
WOUGNET office will be closed from December 22, 2008 and reopen on
January 12, 2009.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our members
and partners for the active year that 2008 has been. This year
WOUGNET began the new 2008-2010 WOUGNET program that aims at reaching
further out to WOUGNET members at the grassroots in both urban and
rural areas, focusing and reaching out to more women in terms of
information access and skill acquisition in ICT, and continuing to
advocate for gender sensitive ICT Policies and programs. The 2008 -
2010 program has three major program areas:

a) Information sharing and networking -- This program aims at
providing relevant information to women and sharing of experiences
for purposes of improving quality of lives.

b) Technical support -- This program aims at supporting women
organisations to access, utilise and apply ICTs in addressing their
development problems.

c) Gender and ICT Policy Advocacy -- This program aims at promoting
and advocating for gender responsive ICT policy processes in Uganda.

We say thank you to the many individuals and partners that
collaborated with WOUGNET in support of this program including Apac
e-Society Programme, Apac Local Government and Community, Association
for Progressive Communications (APC), BROSDI, CIPESA, Citzen
Journalism in Africa (CJA), Dimitra Project, East Africa ICT4D
Network, Fahamu, FAO, Hivos, I-Network, Kabissa, Ministry of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Parliamentary
Committee on ICT, Radio Apac, Tactical Tech, Technical Centre for
Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP EU (CTA), Uganda
Communications Commission (UCC), UNESCO's International Program for
Development Communication and all WOUGNET members.

The next issue of the WOUGNET Update Newsletter will be in February 2009.

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News and Events
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= Domestic Violence discussed on FM Radio Talk Show
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
The current rate of domestic violence in our community, has at long
last hit 'Talk Back', a prime radio talk show on a prime FM radio
station called Radio One. Radio One, is an FM radio station that
largely targets people in Kampala. 'Talk Back ', is broadcast every
morning from around 8.15 to 8.45 am. Most of the topics discussed on
'Talk Back', are a continuation of what transpired on the previous
evening's radio talk show called 'Spectrum'. Both Spectrum and Talk
Back capture the elite in Kampala. One notes this when listening to
the callers into the radio talk show. Notable about the two radio
talk shows is the lack of women participants into the radio talk
shows. It is mainly men who call to offer their opinions regarding
the theme being discussed.

= Beverley Nambozo Bi-Annual Poetry Award
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
With a strong belief that women have some of the greatest potentials
that go unrecognized and unnoticed, this award is opening up more
creative spaces for them to excel. The Beverley Nambozo Poetry Award
is open to all Ugandan females from the age of 20 to 40 who are
residing in Uganda. The award, which was launched in December 2008,
will recognize upcoming Ugandan female poets. There are three prizes
to be won. Working with Uganda Women Writers' Association (FEMRITE),
this award, the first ever of its kind is another opportunity for
women to push the pen.

= Housewife Designs Mobile Phone Charger
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=317...
Mrs. Muyonjo is a housewife in a remote village of Ivukula in Iganga
district, Eastern Uganda. She used to ride her bicycle for twenty
miles in order to come to the nearest small town with electricity to
charge her mobile phone battery. Not any more.

= 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, 25 November - 10
December 2008
16 Days of Activism is a global campaign against gender-based
violence. It commences on 25th of November and ends on 10th December
of every year. This year the global theme was 'Defending Rights,
Defending Women'. The regional theme was "Our Strength is the
Solution: Communities Can Prevent Sexual Violence" designed to focus
on sexual violence not just in conflict but also in our communities.

WOUGNET partnered with the Gender-based Violence Prevention Network
and EASSI in an SMS campaign where topical messages were delivered on
each day of the global campaign. All the messages are available
online and comments are welcome at:
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=83&task=s...

= Kezironi Mukasa Ntulume: The Patron of NVIWODA.
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=83&task=s...
Mzei Kezironi Mukasa Ntulume, the Patron of Ntulume Village Women
Development Association (NVIWODA) died on 28th November 2008. Mzee
Ntulume was a Gender Activist and gave a lot of support to the women
of his area, as a result he became a Patron of Ntulume Village
Women's Development Association (NVIWODA), and besides that he
offered the Association a piece of land where the office is situated.
He also loved his kingdom and preserved Buganda culture.

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Tech Support
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= December 2008: Things To Consider When Buying A Digital Camera
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&se...
As more organizations embrace technology, they are looking for the
best tools to suit their needs. Three points you might want to
consider when acquiring a digital camera are pixels, sensors and
zoom. This article gives a brief explanation on what this all means.

= Mobiles in-a-box: Tools and Tactics for Mobile Advocacy
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=282...
Tactical Tech announces 'Mobiles in-a-box: Tools and Tools and
Tactics for Mobile Advocacy' - a collection of tools, tactics,
how-to guides and case studies designed to inspire advocacy
organisations and present possibilities for the use of mobile
telephony in their work. From choosing an audience, to privacy and
security issues and also countering technological challenges, Mobiles
in-a-box provides effective solutions to enable you get started with
using mobiles in your advocacy efforts.

WOUGNET has received 50 copies of the mobiles toolkit (handbook and
CD) for dissemination in Uganda. Recipients will be asked to
participate in an evaluation of the toolkit so that in 2009 Tactical
Tech can assess the impact of the toolkit. If you are interested in
receiving a copy of the toolkit, please send a note to
info [at] wougnet [dot] org with the following information: (1) Contact name and
email and (2) Organisation name and address.

= Mobile Advocacy Toolkit: Fring
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor...
Fring is a free mobile VoIP application that enables free mobile
internet calls and live chat (IM-Instant Messaging) to other
'fringsters' and PC-based services including Skype, Google Talk, ICQ,
MSN Messenger and Twitter, using free Wi-Fi or your 3G or GPRS
internet data plan instead of costly mobile airtime minutes.

= NComputing: Getting more from your computer
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor...
Today's PCs are like supercomputers, so most users only utilise a
small fraction of the power of their machines. The NComputing
solution takes the excess capacity and allows more users to each PC,
enjoying the experience of having their own PC at a fraction of the
cost of purchasing and maintaining separate computers for each user.
Each user's monitor, keyboard, and mouse connect to the shared PC
through a small and very durable NComputing access device.

For more information or for assistance in managing your computer and
in using the Internet, contact techsupport [at] wougnet [dot] org

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Citizen Journalism
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= Rising Voices hosts Live Chat in Commemoration of World AIDS Day
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor...
In commemoration of World AIDS Day, Rising Voices hosted a live chat
on Wednesday, 3rd December 2008 at 3:00pm East African time. The chat
was facilitated by Serina Kalande and Daudi Were and the discussion
was building on a similar chat that Serina and Daudi organized back
in April of this year which asked the following question: "how can
citizen media be used to supplement and improve the mainstream
media's coverage of the AIDS epidemic?
This chat focused on one of Rising Voices grantee project, "REPACTED"
in Nakuru. We learnt how the organization has implemented blogging
and video outreach programs to spread awareness about their
initiatives in AIDS prevention and advocating for the rights of
HIV-positive individuals.

= CJA blogs on Uganda available on WOUGNET website
Follow the blogs on the Citizen Journalism in Africa (CJA) website
that are focused on Uganda. A new section 'What's New at the CJA
Portal: Uganda' on the WOUGNET website highlights the most recent
blogs at:
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor...
The Citizen Journalism in Africa project (CJA) is a three-year
initiative funded by both Hivos and the EU. Hivos is working with
SANGONet (South Africa) on this project. The aim of the project is to
increase civil society organisations' use of and interaction with
various forms of media. This will help them maximise their
communication strategies and reach. It is hoped that this will
strengthen the organisations' use of media and increase quality
information dissemination capacity using multiple platforms.

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WOUGNET News
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= Women's Rights Networks and Organisations Devise Approaches for
Demanding Accountability from AU
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
To strengthen the effectiveness of African Women's Regional Networks
in participation in African Union (AU) Policy formulation and
implementation processes, UNIFEM organised a consultative and
planning forum for Regional and Sub-Regional Women's Networks and
Organisations. Networks and organisations from Uganda that
participated in the meeting held 15 - 18 December in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, included WOUGNET, EASSI and Isis-WICCE

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The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) website and
mailing lists are hosted by Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa

WOUGNET is supported by APC, CTA, Dimitra/FAO and Hivos

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